Dreamscape
by Shawntail
Summary: Rose keeps having nightmares after the advernture with the Wire. But are they really just nightmares?
1. Chapter 1

(Real)Disclaimer: Doctor Who and the characters of it's show do not belong to me.

No infringement meant on the owners and associates, nor BBC.

Thanks to SonicJules for proofreading ^^

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_Rose__ felt her legs were burning with liquid fire as she rounded another corner at top speed, urging her feet to run faster. She had to get away, away from Her. If only she hadn't been so stupid! She felt a sharp pain in her side, blocking off the oh-so precious oxygen she needed. Suddenly she felt her knees buckle, unable to carry her further away from danger. Terrific, she thought, complete shut-down of all systems from my toes all the way up to my hips! Or make that brain, she added a few seconds later as she took in her surroundings. She'd ended up in a dark and clammy alley with a dead end. A stupid dead end!!! Giving up the struggle to get her cramped muscles to move again, Rose rested her now scraped and bloody hands in her lap, straining her ears to pick up the sound that had haunted her during her flight._

_There it was._

_Rose__ closed her eyes, feeling tears welling up when she heard a familiar voice screaming as She approached. Anguished brown eyes looked at the dirty window of a store that sold electronic devices… and there it was. THE medium of the 21__st__ century, the dreamt playmate for little children and the ideal sweetener for parents with more kids than they could handle: a TV._

_An ordinary, old, lamp infused likely-to-be-broke-in-8-months TV._

_Only for Her, it wasn't an ordinary __telly, it was so much more._

_For Her…- the brown eyed girl began shivering as static began filling the dark screen of the telly, slowly revealing a shady black-and-white image- for Her it was life!_

_A woman's head filled the screen, smirking at the cowering girl on the other side of the glass. _

'_HUNGRY! HUNGRY!!!!!'_

_At these words Rose screamed as long tendrils of energy left the TV screen and attached themselves to her head. The screaming intensified in pain and fear when she felt a strange, familiar pulling at her face. The woman on the screen laughed as She felt the joyous sensation of youth and strength infuse itself deep within Her. When She felt the intensity of the act decrease, She pulled back the octopus-like arms and giggled. _

'_Good girl! Too bad you won't be able to show yourself in the crowd, __now that you have lost face!!!' Laughing, like mad the woman looked at the face-less girl now standing in front of Her, robbed now of everything that made her an individual: her chocolate brown eyes, her nose, her mouth and tongue that would peek from between her teeth if she laughed and – for some strange reason- her ears. All that was left was a blank, surrounded by blonde, waving hair. _

_A blank…_

_- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _

Rose bolted up from her bed, falling on the ground with a solid _thud_. Gasping for air, the girl frantically scrambled to her feet, trying to untangle her legs from the blanket that had her limbs in a tightening grip. Finally freeing herself, Rose practically flew towards the door that lead to her bathroom, throwing herself inside only to stop dead in front of the mirror. Frightened brown eyes scanned her face, searching wildly for anything that was missing. When she was sure she had investigated every square millimetre of her face, Rose sighed in relief and hung her head, steadying herself on the sink.

That had been one hell of a nightmare! After their events with the Wire, Rose and the Doctor had been loafing about the streets of London, enjoying the street parties that had celebrated the big parade. Knowing Rose's sweet tooth and the fact she liked to eat (a bit) more when she was stressed or irritated, the Doctor had taken the very serious task on him to stuff the youngest of the Tyler women with pastries, cookies and bright pink lemonade that- as the Doctor had pointed out- worked very well with her pink skirt. When Rose had finally been able to stop the Doctor from shoving any more sweets into her mouth and after she'd returned the huge megaphone she'd used to make her message clear to the Doctor to its rightful owner, she'd dragged her companion back to the Tardis, ready to take a good long nap. The only reason she'd been able to return with him to his spaceship, dragging him along at his ear, was that the Doctor had been a bit disorientated because Rose had been yelling ' I DON'T WANT ANYMORE SWEETS, PASTRIES OR COOKIES!!!' in his ear for 8 minutes.

Rose chuckled softly as she remembered the dazed-like state he had been in when they entered the Tardis. She'd given him a friendly pat on his cheek and headed for her room. She groaned as she remembered the heavy feeling of her stomach when she lay down. No wonder she was having nightmares. She'd eaten enough pastries to feed a whole army of Slitheens if they'd taken a fancy to sugar instead of human flesh.

Taking a few deep breaths Rose looked at her reflection again to give her face a last check-up when she noticed her hands were sticky and wet.

_Probably sweaty, it was awfully warm under that blanket__, after all._

She lifted her hands to wash them when she noticed the red hand prints on either side of the sink that she had been bracing herself on a few seconds earlier. Trembling she turned over her hands to see them all bloody from the scrapes she had suffered from falling in the dark and clammy alleyway in her dream.

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There you go, my first attempt to a Doctor Who fanfic. It's the first chapter of the story so to those who liked it; there's more on its way ^^

Please review so I know what you thought of it.

Disclaimer: I don't own them; if I did you'd REALLY think I'd have let K9 go out of the picture? CYBER DOGGIES RULE!!!!


	2. Footsteps

2nd chapter is up and running!

Insert disclaimer.

After 9 hours of tinkering away at the console of the TARDIS and fiddling at his sonic screwdriver, then downing 15 cups of tea and throwing darts at a picture of a Sycorax, the Doctor could state he was bored. Up until now he thought boredom was something that would never happen to him. How could it? He had a time machine to take him everywhere, anywhere he wanted. She could take him to New New York for sightseeing, the Library planet for reading material and back to Earth for a bag of chips in the blink of an eye…so why was he bored?

Because he was stuck in the Vortex, waiting for his companion to rise and shine, ready to face a new exciting day – or night, you could never really know inside the Vortex – yet she still hadn't showed up.

Sighing, the Doctor jumped to his feet, focused on the task of not being bored any longer. Boredom was something for humans, NOT something for Time Lords, a bit like being domestic, really. Mumbling something in Gallafrean, the Doctor shouted in triumph when he found THE ultimate thing to fight boredom.

When he heard the screaming from Rose's room he dropped the Wii-console he had been using to refine his golf techniques and raced down the corridor. Bursting into his companion's room, holding his sonic screwdriver like a baseball bat and ready to save the damsel in distress, he found himself a tad bit disappointed when he noticed no hostile presences in the cozy little room. Just Rose, standing in front of the mirror staring at something.

_P__erhaps a bad hair day or something._

Lowering the screwdriver, he carefully laid a hand on Rose's shoulder, knowing all about the dangers of Tyler-women in front of mirrors.

'Uhm, Rose, are you all right?'

Feeling her shoulders tense he immediately withdrew his hand, shoving it into his pocket to make sure he'd still have it when he would leave the room.

'I know you human females don't like it when you're being disturbed while standing in front of a mirror, especially human females of the Tyler tree but-…'

Rose had now turned, glaring slightly at him while crossing her arms on her back, making sure he couldn't see her hands.

'What do you mean with that? Why would my mum and I have difficulties with that?'

The Doctor grinned slightly and wiggled his eyebrows. 'Because last time we were at your mum's, she gave me a lecture after I had walked into her while she was doing her hair…in front of that thing.' He nodded towards the mirror.

'Believe me, she put the members of the Spanish inquisition to shame and _that_ is something even I have troubles with. I doubt even general Alva could talk your mother under the table once she's got the chance to get the upper edge, like she pretty much always does.'

Rose gave him a little smile and leaned closer as if telling him something highly confidential. 'Ah you see, that's the trick with my mum; _don't give her the chance to warm up!'_

Leaning back to look him right in the face she frowned. 'And I'm nothing like her when it comes to that!'

The Doctor nodded and flashed her a toothy grin as he plopped down on her bed. 'I know that! And that's exactly why I chose _you _as my companion Rose Tyler!'

Stretching his arms he lay down, the Doctor seemed perfectly content with staying there while she was getting ready…something Rose _really _wanted to avoid.

'I'm glad you chose me and that you feel confident enough to interrupt me when I'm busy with the mirror…although…'

Hearing a slightly dangerous undertone in Rose's voice the Doctor sat up again, suppressing the urge to run for his life. 'Although…?' He swallowed.

Rose grinned in the mirror at the suddenly very pale face of the brown haired man sitting on her bed. 'Although, you never know…DNA is strange…who knows how much I resemble my mum…when it comes to mirrors…'

Before Rose had even gotten the chance to finish this sentence the Doctor had already scrambled to his feet and fled to the console room, away from the very scary imitation of Jackie Tyler, performed by her daughter and actress (in the making), Rose Tyler.

---DW---

Rose sighed in relief when she heard the echo of his footsteps fade away in the endless long corridor of the TARDIS.

_That had been a close one._

Unfolding her arms from her back, Rose stared at the bloodstains on her hands, trying very hard not to panic. Though it might have been a bit late for that, she thought when she let the water running into the sink; since she had spend the 5 nanoseconds it had taken the Doctor to come barging into her room, doing just that; panicking.

Rose hissed softly when she lowered her hands into the cold water, feeling the scrapes and cuts burning as she washed off the blood. Lucky for her they weren't deep and after a few minutes soaking and cleaning with tissues, Rose was confident the Doctor wouldn't notice a thing.

Now all that she needed to do was apply a little make-up and she would be ready to face another day on some planet with aliens that-didn't-look-dangerous-but-that-would-be-glad-to-eat-a-human-and-timelord-as-snack.

Half an hour after the Doctor had bolted out of her room, Rose walked to the kitchen fully intent on making a strong cup of tea to get the gears in her body fully started. Seeing a familiar silhouette walking a few feet ahead of her, Rose grinned and began running.

_Nothing that I love more than having a nice cuppa and having a nice little chat with the Doctor, especially not after his tactic escape from before._

Her mind focused on teasing the Doctor about earlier this morning, Rose slowed down a bit, letting the subject of her evil plans rounding a corner so he could no longer be seen. Noticing she had let her victim almost escape, Rose started running again, coming to a halt when she noticed the long hall splitting in two.

_Ah! There he is! _

Seeing a reflection in a glass door to the right of her, Rose sped up and disappeared quickly in one of the long and darker passages of the Tardis; never stopping to remember the kitchen was actually to the left of the junction and never noticing the head of the Time lord popping around the kitchen door to see where those running footsteps came from.

Okay this was the second chapter. Hope you guys – and girls- enjoyed it and you know the drill: please review so I know what you think of it.


	3. Static trouble

3rd chapter and…sorry I didn't post another chapter any sooner but I've been a bit busy with my 18th birthday =3 *hands out cookies to everyone*

But, enough about me, on with the story.

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'This…this is impossible…how on Earth can he…run so fast!' Rose gasped as she stood hunched over, trying to catch her breath.

She had been chasing the Doctor for quite some time now and she still was nowhere _near _the Time Lord. She knew he could be fast if he wanted to; more than half of her time with him was spent running for their lives so she knew they both had stamina up to some level, but this was getting ridiculous!

She had followed him down countless passages and through at least a hundred doors, leading them further and further away from the console room and deeper into the heart of the TARDIS. When she'd had enough of this following around stuff, Rose began shouting at him, telling him she had enough of this game and if he could please stop for a few minutes.

But the shadow she had been following hadn't even slowed down, instead it had began moving faster until it had disappeared completely, leaving Rose in a dark and narrow aisle.

'Okay, fine, if you wanna play games with me, well two can play at that…game!' Rose yelled at the black hole that had absorbed the Doctor's shadow, wishing she had come up with a better, wittier thing to say.

'I'm sure he could've thought of something clever to say in a situation like this…oh what am I blabbering about it's his fault _I'm_ in a situation like this!' Rose muttered to herself as she started walking again, only this time in the opposite direction, determined to find her way back to her room. There she would stay and sulk until the Doctor had apologized. After all, if it worked with her mum, it would work with the Doctor too…she hoped. And even his sonic screwdriver wouldn't do him any good to _sonic _his way through the 2 large wardrobes she was planning on barricading her door with.

It was a great plan, she thought as she quickened her pace a bit, not feeling comfortable at all with the dimmed and flickering lights that allowed her to see barely enough to avoid stumbling over anything.

'What does he want here anyway?' she asked one particularly ugly lamp as she picked it up to examine some of the junk that was lying around. Knowing the Doctor always talked to himself when he was trying to work something out, Rose found comfort in the familiarity of the action and kept voicing her thoughts as she studied the strange objects.

After a few minutes she had to admit she couldn't identify any of the obviously alien-made trinkets, although one of them looked a bit like the Doctor's screwdriver. Rose carefully picked it up and fiddled a bit with the valuable until it bleeped and began glowing. A dim, red light sparked to life and Rose hummed in appreciation as she recognized some of the settings from the blue sonic screwdriver.

'Guess you're an older version, what else would you been doing down here, hanging out with the wrong sort of crowd? Alien weapons and the Doctor's old clothes' – she felt a small pang of remorse when she recognized the other Doctor's old leather jacket – 'those aren't very good company for a sonic little thing like you. You know what? I think I'll keep you, and ask that Time Lord if he can fix you up, how does that sound?'

Hearing the whirring noise get a bit louder and softer again, Rose got the impression the dusty little trinket agreed with her. Laughing at herself, Rose slipped the screwdriver into her pocket.

_Really, like it would know what I said. All the travelling getting a bit too much for you Rose? It starts with hearing strange noises and before you know it__ you'll end up talking to the TARDIS' console, stroking her buttons and complementing her fine interior._

Softly chuckling Rose resumed her trek back to her room, amusing herself with some of the conversations the Doctor had with the TARDIS when he thought Rose wasn't around. Lost in thought, Rose didn't notice that one of the old machines she passed switched itself on, showing crackling white static all over an old TV screen.

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Two brown eyes watched the pendulum of the little clock sway back and forth, as they had been doing for the past 50 minutes. Apart from fixing his hair with some of the gel he hid behind the mirror inside his room, the Doctor had been watching the seconds tick by, growing more and more anxious. Rose should have showed up by now.

In the beginning he was a bit relieved Rose hadn't followed him immediately; she looked very scary when she warned him about the DNA linking her to Jackie Tyler. He was also grateful she didn't see him doing his hair; she seemed to think he just woke up and went to bed with it being all stylish like that, but it didn't really work that way. Every morning he would use a bit of this special gel, made on a planet at least 65 galaxies away, to make sure his coupe would survive his hectic lifestyle.

The reason he didn't want Rose to know, was that she would tease him endlessly if she would ever find out. He, the only surviving Time Lord, the Oncoming Storm; used gel to style his hair; scoop of the millennium! But…now he was getting worried about her absence.

An hour ago, he could have sworn he'd heard her running through the hallway, but when he checked the corridor, she was nowhere to be found. He knew it wasn't unusual to hear strange things inside the TARDIS, but footsteps?

After checking her room, the control room, the library and the kitchen again he came to the conclusion she wasn't anywhere near their usual comfortable habitat. Not that he minded her exploring the TARDIS, it was just unnerving she hadn't told him where she was going so he could at least come and look for her when she stayed away too long.

Jumping to his feet the Doctor walked into the control room again and started pacing around, muttering to himself. Then, mentally slapping himself into the next milky way, he ran towards the clavier and started pressing buttons like his regenerations depended on it.

'Why didn't I think of this sooner?! Stupid, stupid Time Lord!'

His hands flew across the keyboard, letters of an ancient language rolling over the screen.

'What good is a spaceship equipped with the latest and most brilliant inventions to track down lost little humans when you never use it! Really, I think I'm getting a bit old! Well, perhaps not really _old _but-ah, here we are! Found it! Now, all I have to figure out…is how this thing works…'

The Doctor withdrew his hands and used them to put on his glasses, studying the screen intently.

_This could take a while…_

Flexing his fingers he glanced at the 7645 page long manual he had summoned, and then looked at his watch, sighed deeply and shook his head.

'If Mickey the idiot can hack into a computer of Cybus Industries without help, I should _definitely _be able to use a tracking device without reading a boring long-winded manual…especially if it's one written by the FBI of the 56th century.'

With one sweep of his hand the manual disappeared and the infrastructure of the tracking system appeared.

But as the Doctor leaned forward to try and get the program running – without resorting to violent actions as his right hand was lying dangerously close next to a hammer – the screen blurred, flickered and went completely black.

'Oi! Hang on a minute! What's happening? You're not supposed to just break down right in the middle of an important investigation!'

Irritated by the obvious lack of cooperation of the stubborn program, the Doctor ran his fingers through his unruly hair, trying very hard not to loose his patience, when the screen suddenly filled with static. He frowned, now what? He'd seen more than his share of static during his last adventure with the Wire, so he wasn't too happy to see it again, on _his _computer screen nonetheless.

Not knowing what to do with this, he fell back on the 21st-century method to solve all electronic problems: shake the thing back to its normal, high-tech self. But, alas, after a few minutes of shaking, there was still no sign of the tracing program. Sighing, the Doctor put the screen back down, sitting in his chair to study the enigma he had before him. Lacing his fingers under his chin, he leaned forward to study the little white and black specks, their frantic movements forming a certain pattern he was sure he'd seen before. After a good 10 seconds of staring, it hit him with the force of 15 charging Cyber men: _She was back!_

Frantically he pushed himself away from the console, away from the snowy image on the screen, the wheels under his chair screeching as he bumped into the little barricade surrounding the metal confinement of the Time Vortex. Long tendrils of electricity shot from the screen, searching for their victim.

Jumping to his feet, the Doctor vaulted over the rail, trying to reach the door leading to the hallway. He wasn't sure how far the tentacles could reach but he sure wasn't staying to find out.

When he had almost reached his escape way, he felt cold wisps of pure energy wrapped around his legs, throwing him off balance. With a painful groan he felt to the floor, clawing his fingers in the grating under his hands, trying to withstand the forceful pulling of the Wire's greedy clutches. But her power had grown inside the TARDIS, absorbing energy right from time itself and the Doctor knew he was no match for her.

_Rose! What if t__he Wire already has her?_

Rage filled his entire being, granting him the strength to hold on just a bit longer. Turning his head, he shouted at the screen where the shape of a woman clearly stood out, watching the Doctor's struggles with hungry eyes.

'What have you done to Rose?!! Where is she?!!'

The Wire cackled with laughter. 'I have done nothing to that human child, well, not yet anyway. We merely…played a little game of hide-and-seek, which she is losing at this very moment. After I've dealt with you, I'll go find her and then we'll see if she can escape me a second time.'

Laughing cruelly, the Wire released even more energy, prying the Doctor's fingers from the grating and dragging him back to the console.

'Oh you're so clever Doctor, why would I take only your face, if I can take _ALL_ of you! Oh yes, I think your knowledge will prove to be a big help in satisfying my hunger! Hungry! Hungry!'

The Doctor could only watch in horror as pulsing tendrils engulfed his entire body, pulling him towards the Wire, imprisoning him inside her world of electronic walls. He felt his body dissolving, a very strange sensation remained; he existed, but he didn't at the same time.

The strange sensation faded a bit, leaving the Doctor with one killer headache…headache? How could he have a headache if he didn't have a body?

Blinking, the Doctor opened his eyes, seeing the console room before him. He sighed in relief and took stock of his body, flexing and bending his limbs, making sure everything was still there.

He grinned, probably a nightmare, not surprising after the current events. He was just wriggling his fingers in front of his face when he noticed something odd…his fingers weren't their usual white-pinky colour; they were black and white.

'Oh no…' A strangled whisper escaped his throat as he ran forward, colliding with something solid but invisible. He touched it with his hands and pushed, but it was useless, the invisible wall refused to budge. He sighed again, defeat evident in his posture as he sat down, resting his head in his hands.

The Wire grinned as she saw the Doctor slumped down, trapped in an old television screen in one of the darkest rooms she could find deep down in the TARDIS.

'Now, let's look for the Rose child, I've got a bone to pick with that girl. I wonder where my fake shadow took her to…I should have given it more specific guidelines, now I have to go and search for her.' The Wire said in a sugary sweet voice tinted with a bit of annoyance before she disappeared down the electrical circuit, leaving a miserable Doctor behind.

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After chasing my muse with a Swiffer, the chapter is finally done! Hope you liked it ^^

(It's a long one °-°)

Please let me know what you think about it.


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